The headline of this article implies that this is an inflight redesign effort within Apple. I’m of the opinion that this is a gross exaggeration and there will be a more incremental redesign of the iMac before Apple resorts to anything resembling what’s depicted in the concept drawings. Like others have said, getting rid of the Leno-like chin on the current iMac design and incorporating some of the hole-y case elements of the latest Mac Pro and XDR display would do wonders for a next gen iMac while keeping with the design language of the latest high end Macs.
Frankly, the concept depicted in this patent application is quite hideous. The most bothersome design element is the wedge. It’s like a colostomy bag awkwardly slapped on the bottom of a thoroughly impractical design to keep the fragile and rickety glass slab from tipping over and shattering. What becomes of the wedge when you mount the thing on a monitor arm? Does it just hang there like a cow’s udder or does it have to sit on the desk with an umbilical tethered to the slab? At least Dell’s hot pocket design hides the gut bag in the monitor stand.
I just don’t like it at all. The new Mac Pro looks as sturdy as a nuclear hardened bunker. This conceptual design of an articulated glass desktop Mac looks like a cheesy plaque/trophy you’d get for graduating at the top of your Cookie College training class. It’ll probably break as your trying to wrestle it out of its styrofoam shipping sarcophagus and get it properly seated on the magic wedge. Must have been liquid lunch day for the design team.
What a deceptive headline. No, Apple is not working on a radical iMac redesign using a single sheet of glass. They filed a patent. One among thousands it files every year. Most of which never end up in a final product.
Here's hoping this horrible idea never gets anywhere close to production.
Looks like somebody at Apple was wearing their Bad Idea Jeans that day.
Don't take patent diagrams so literally. At the very least look at the potential with the title and abstract to get an idea of what they may actually be planning.
ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH GLASS HOUSING MEMBER
Abstract An electronic device may include a glass housing member that includes an upper portion defining a display area, a lower portion defining an input area, and a transition portion joining the upper portion and the lower portion and defining a continuous, curved surface between the upper portion and the lower portion. The electronic device may include a display coupled to the glass housing member and configured to provide a visual output at the display area. The electronic device may include an input device coupled to the glass housing member and configured to detect inputs at the input area. The electronic device may include a support structure coupled to the glass housing member and configured to support the computing device.
When I read that I see something that could work very well in an autonomous EV.
When I get excited about a new computer it is due to what can be done with it, not as much about how it looks. A new GPU architecture, AI features, a large number of CPU cores, built in cellular data, an edge to edge micro-led screen and so on. Sure it's great if the computer looks awesome, but design takes a back seat to functionality.
Except your list has nothing to do with functionality, it’s just a bunch of components with implied functions at best - ‘Faster horses’ What actual functions do you want to see enabled in the new product?
So the iMac goes the way of AppleTV. As soon as Jobs ‘departed’ all the rejected crap designs came out. Now Jonny has departed the iMac looks set to suffer the same fate.
Seems a bit convoluted. Ever since I saw this, I was hoping this would be the next shape of the iMac, just without the mini LED and pricier features from the stand (like magnetism and rotation maybe, doesn't need to be toolessly attachable for an iMacs price)
Looking at this I'd like to see one of two things. Either the the stand hold all the components (which should all them to be easier to access) with the glass display not having much else, save for a Face ID camera and mic -or- for Apple to offer the iMac all behind the display and let users have the option of getting the XDR stand, no stand, or some basic iMac stand as an option.
Not seeing what so good about this design. I’m close to saying it sucks. It’s a 25W Intel CPU system in a SFF that can be mounted in the stand or on the back of a Dell monitor with a VESA mount.
What is the advantage over any other SFF PC or a Mac mini?
There are AIO designs with a PCIe slot for GPU upgrades. So, I can see the win there. The iMac stuffs 65 W to 95 W CPUs and discrete GPUs in a form factor that is more sleek than this Dell system, resulting in 2x or a lot more performance, so you would be getting a high performance system.
Apple can go a lot of ways with a new AIO. The can go modular like they did with the Mac Pro. Thin modules on a rail of custom PCIe slots would be pretty interesting. If they go ARM, thin is in. It could be mostly 5 mm thin with a tiny 10 mm bulge somewhere for the logic board.
In any case, they will hopefully have USB and SD card ports in the front of the case, or at least have a keyboard with lots of ports in it. Like a USBC keyboard with USBA, USBC, and SD card slot in it.
For many office desktop users in offices, power is not that important. They do email, they write in word, excel or PP, they access remote systems that do all the heavy lifting. What this design does offer is a package with fewer cables and boxes. You attach the monitor, use a BT keyboard and mouse, WiFi for networking and all you have is a power cord. I've supported a LOT of offices where they would have jumped at this. One system you can attach to a 17" monitor for the security guard at the front desk, all the way up to a 32 inch for the guy upstairs with the vision problems. No it's not a speed demon. A LOT of office workers in cube-land don't need that. They don't need upgradeability. They need a simple computer that is adaptable and can be used in many environments without taking up much space and without ugly wires going everywhere. Sales people who meet clients in their office would love the clean desk.
Before people freak out, this is a patent drawing. The drawing is for explanatory purposes only. IF, and I emphasize IF Apple came out with a system based on this concept, it would go through a lot of user testing and refinement. It would look almost nothing like the drawing in the patent application.
I would be perfectly happy with a few tweaks to the current design, and an easy way to rotate the screen.
That feature is all that's needed for Apple to win.
All they need to do is redesign the original “Luxo Lamp” design to use a thin screen and build the electronics into the neck and/or base.
That's what I suggested earlier in this thread. I still have mine and only stopped using it as a headless Mac (which is funny for one with such a recognizable head) when I got a Mac mini to replace it in 2014. No USB 2.0 so I had to use FW-400 to connect to my external RAID and it worked pretty much the same as the 14yo newer Mac mini it replaced.
I'd love to see Apple's engineering efforts for the XDR display be an option for it and their new swivel base mechanics be included in the design. I think it the iMac could once again be a breathtaking AIO.
Apple keeps moving in directions that their designers get off on, but are ridiculous to repair or modify in ways such as consumers adding their own ram.
It is kind of sad to keep moving in that direction. i hope this potential design isn't another anti-consumer design piece.
Before people freak out, this is a patent drawing. The drawing is for explanatory purposes only. IF, and I emphasize IF Apple came out with a system based on this concept, it would go through a lot of user testing and refinement. It would look almost nothing like the drawing in the patent application.
If history tells us anything radical Patents like this generally turn out to be for something new altogether than the device noted in the patent, that is if they turn up in anything at all.
Before people freak out, this is a patent drawing. The drawing is for explanatory purposes only. IF, and I emphasize IF Apple came out with a system based on this concept, it would go through a lot of user testing and refinement. It would look almost nothing like the drawing in the patent application.
If history tells us anything radical Patents like this generally turn out to be for something new altogether than the device noted in the patent, that is if they turn up in anything at all.
When I get excited about a new computer it is due to what can be done with it, not as much about how it looks. A new GPU architecture, AI features, a large number of CPU cores, built in cellular data, an edge to edge micro-led screen and so on. Sure it's great if the computer looks awesome, but design takes a back seat to functionality.
Sir (or madam), "design-first" is the essence of iMac. Goes all the way back to the first iconic gumdrop Bondi Blue design. Performance will be good, but not the headline.
Terrible design in my eyes. But perhaps the new "post Jony Ive team" need to start somewhere, throw a bunch of concepts, to start to circle in on something new and fresh eventually.
iMac needs real GPUs support under the hood with glass design or without it.
Today macOS lacks Metal api support from greater creative 3D companies like autodesk, maxon, Redshift, otoy, adobe, sidefx, unreal. Only announces from Apple in wwdc19, after months no one release something. I hope the race against NVidia begins in 2020 because we are waiting too much
Comments
Frankly, the concept depicted in this patent application is quite hideous. The most bothersome design element is the wedge. It’s like a colostomy bag awkwardly slapped on the bottom of a thoroughly impractical design to keep the fragile and rickety glass slab from tipping over and shattering. What becomes of the wedge when you mount the thing on a monitor arm? Does it just hang there like a cow’s udder or does it have to sit on the desk with an umbilical tethered to the slab? At least Dell’s hot pocket design hides the gut bag in the monitor stand.
I just don’t like it at all. The new Mac Pro looks as sturdy as a nuclear hardened bunker. This conceptual design of an articulated glass desktop Mac looks like a cheesy plaque/trophy you’d get for graduating at the top of your Cookie College training class. It’ll probably break as your trying to wrestle it out of its styrofoam shipping sarcophagus and get it properly seated on the magic wedge. Must have been liquid lunch day for the design team.
When I read that I see something that could work very well in an autonomous EV.
What actual functions do you want to see enabled in the new product?
Now Jonny has departed the iMac looks set to suffer the same fate.
What this design does offer is a package with fewer cables and boxes. You attach the monitor, use a BT keyboard and mouse, WiFi for networking and all you have is a power cord. I've supported a LOT of offices where they would have jumped at this. One system you can attach to a 17" monitor for the security guard at the front desk, all the way up to a 32 inch for the guy upstairs with the vision problems. No it's not a speed demon. A LOT of office workers in cube-land don't need that. They don't need upgradeability. They need a simple computer that is adaptable and can be used in many environments without taking up much space and without ugly wires going everywhere. Sales people who meet clients in their office would love the clean desk.
I'd love to see Apple's engineering efforts for the XDR display be an option for it and their new swivel base mechanics be included in the design. I think it the iMac could once again be a breathtaking AIO.
If history tells us anything radical Patents like this generally turn out to be for something new altogether than the device noted in the patent, that is if they turn up in anything at all.